Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority plans to hire its own police officers
Richmond VA December 5, 2022 Richmond’s public housing agency plans to hire its own police officers, after abruptly shutting down its in-house police force in 2014.
Shaken by hearing of the shooting death of a 15-year girl in Gilpin Court just a couple of weeks before taking over as chief executive officer of the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority in October, Steven Nesmith has been saying keeping residents safe and secure is his top priority.
Nesmith expects the new force will begin patrols early next year at the authority’s six large public housing communities, with their nearly 3,000 units.
“This is a high, high priority. Whatever else I do, I’ve got to do that,” he told a community meeting in the city’s 7th District earlier this fall.
Two of the RRHA’s “Big Six” public housing projects, Creighton Court and Fairfield Court, are in the district, and two others are on its borders.
Policing is vital, Nesmith said, and it is what residents want.
It changes the entire landscape and environment and provides a platform for organizations and investment of needed services, programs, training and other opportunities, he said.
Nesmith said he has discussed his plan for an RRHA force with Gerald Smith, former Richmond Police Department chief, and interim Chief Rick Edwards, as well as with tenant groups.
RRHA is now looking for a chief to lead its new security force, and Nesmith is planning to meet with Edwards to make sure the new force and Richmond police coordinate closely.
RRHA abruptly disbanded its seven-member force in 2014. At the time, announcing the move the same day it closed the operation down, the authority did not say why it acted. The shutdown came a month after its former chief sued authority officials saying he had been fired after reporting improper activities.
Nesmith said the decision to drop the force was in response to a HUD policy saying housing authorities can’t continue to fund their police through a capital grants program.
He said he has identified alternative funding and is working out the details.
After RRHA shut down its force, then-Richmond Police Department Chief Ray Tarasovic said the move would not result in big changes in police presence at public housing sites.
The family of Tynashia “Nae” Humphrey, 15, who was killed on Sept. 12, joined community members, victims’ families and local politicians in a march from Greater Mt. Moriah Baptist Church to the John Marshall Courts Building on Sunday.
Last year, to try to deal with crime in and around its public housing, RRHA offered the city a $75,000 grant to hire a civilian to work under the Richmond Police Department to coordinate crime prevention and outreach efforts.
Tynashia “Nae” Humphrey, 15, was killed by a stray bullet on Sept. 12 while walking to the store from her grandmother’s home, police said. Five people have been charged in the case.
timesdispatch.com
